Wild Bison: BFC Update from the Field 6/26/08
By LetBuffaloRoam, New West Unfiltered 6-26-08
Yellowstone Bison
Update from the Field
June 26, 2008
KEEP BFC ON THE FRONTLINES WITH A TAX DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION TODAY
https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1807
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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* COMMENT: Montana Buffalo Hunt Planned for 2008-2009
* "Buffalo News" ~ Collaborative Newsletter for the Buffalo Available
* "Let Buffalo Roam" License Plates for Every State!
* Photo of the Week
* Last Words
* Kill Tally
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* Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
Summer is here and our field volunteers are now inside the boundaries of Yellowstone with the surviving mighty bison, educating national park visitors. BFC tables inside Yellowstone every summer in an effort to let park visitors know what happens to the buffalo they are there to admire. Our shaggy friends gain a lot of support from people visiting Yellowstone from across the nation and around the globe. If you are planning to visit Yellowstone this summer, look for us in the Park. And, if you have an interest in helping BFC tell the buffalo's story in Yellowstone this summer, please contact Iwi at .
Meanwhile, Montana's loss of it's coveted brucellosis-free status is barely making news headlines. One would think that if this was the huge economic disaster they have always claimed, it would make the front page every day. But, the media has been relatively quiet. And to date, the cattle industry has not been able to rule out that the transmission could have come from cattle. Of course, quick to place blame, the cattle industry immediately points the finger at wildlife inhabiting the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, calling for "reductions" in elk and bison populations. Killing half the bison population wasn't enough to please them, apparently, even though wild bison have never transmitted the cattle disease to cattle. Perhaps it's time for a reduction in the cattle populations that encroach on this majestic wilderness region, because it's clearly not working in this landscape. Nor is the industry's prized practice of "test-and-slaughter" programs aimed at grass-eating wildlife.
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the last remaining wild places left in the lower-48, one of the last homes to bison, elk, wolves, grizzly bears, wolverines, and countless other wild species that cannot tolerate the lethal invasion brought by cattle and the industry's accompanying politics. Priorities and attitudes must change, and they are changing, in a direction that recognizes the irrational behavior and expectations of the cattle industry and the strong economic, cultural, spiritual, biological, and ecological benefit of wild bison all over this land!
Roam Free!
~Stephany
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* COMMENT: Montana Buffalo Hunt Planned for 2008-2009
Given the slaughter of this past season we are shocked to report that Montana intends to carry on with a buffalo hunt this coming season. Apparently, half the last wild population dead just isn't enough for Montana, the "big skull state." Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission has decided to go ahead with the exact same bison hunt as last season. Only this time, hunters don't have to attend an education course. The state has still not provided any year-round habitat for wild bison in Montana, and they are still aggressively and lethally "managed" by the Montana Department of Livestock, the agency that is also authorizing the hunt. Wild bison aren't even considered a wildlife species in Montana. The only time they are allowed to step foot in the state is from November 15 to February 15, during the hunt, so they can be shot. The buffalo are a national treasure, and now, due to Montana cattle politics, fewer than 2,100 wild American bison currently exist and they will be under the gun again this winter.
TAKE ACTION FOR THE BUFFALO! Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is accepting public comments through July 18, and they need to hear from you! Please visit the link below to submit your comments today and please spread the word to save the herds!!!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2qclNo_2bC_2fpYkxAlq6kIeLA_3d_3d
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* "Buffalo News" ~ Collaborative Newsletter for the Buffalo Available
BUFFALO NEWS, is a new collaborative newsletter jointly published by a diverse group of wild bison allies: Buffalo Field Campaign, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Horse Butte Neighbors of Buffalo, Natural Resources Defense Council, the InterTribal Bison Cooperative and Tataka Oyate: 7th Generation Fund. Working collectively, all these groups have put together an update of what has occurred with this year's slaughter, ideas on how to counter the IBMP agencies, and a stellar center-fold map of potential and available bison habitat in SW Montana.
These are perfect outreach tools for you to use in your communities to help educate and inspire bison advocates from wherever you may roam. Copies of the newsletter are now available for distribution. Contact BFC Office Coordinator, barb abramo via email at or via snail mail at PO Box 957, West Yellowstone MT 59758-0957. Contributions for the cost of postage are greatly appreciated.
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* "Let Buffalo Roam" License Plates for Every State
American bison once spanned the continent, 50 million strong, making their home in nearly all 50 states. One way people across the land of the wild buffalo can show support for their return is to make a statement with Montana's new 'Let Buffalo Roam' license plates.
In Montana, official plates are available right now! If you don't live in MOntana, you can still get a plate! Throughout the country, anyone can acquire a sample plate to let everyone know you think Montana should let the buffalo roam! Check out Photo of the Week below to see a perfect example of an out of state sample plate. Purchase of plates goes directly towards BFC's front lines work.
Learn how to get yours at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.
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* Photo of the Week
http://gallery.buffalofieldcampaign.org/v/photo_of_the_week/Photo+of+the+Week+6-26-08.jpg.html
Patagonia's Ron Hunter, Nevada resident, uses his sample license plate to say: Montana MUST Let Buffalo Roam! Learn how to get your "Let Buffalo Roam" plate at http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org.
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* Last Words
"Our approach to Nature is to beat it into submission. We would stand a better chance of survival if we accommodated ourselves into this planet and viewed it appreciatively, instead of skeptically and dictatorially."
~ E.B. White
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* Kill Tally
AMERICAN BISON ELIMINATED from the last wild population in the U.S.
2007-2008 Total: 1,613
2007-2008 Slaughter: 1,447
2007-2008 Hunt: 166
2007-2008 Quarantine: 112
Total Since 2000: 3,678*
*includes lethal government action, quarantine, hunts
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Media & Outreach
Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
BFC is the only group working in the field every day
in defense of the last wild buffalo population in the U.S. [End of article]